Dog bite victim from Khairpur dies at JPMC

KARACHI: A youngster from Shikarpur town in Sindh, who had developed full-blown rabies after bitten by a rabid dog and was undergoing treatment at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC) in Karachi, died on Thursday afternoon at an isolation ward of the hospital, health officials said.

“Shahid Iqbal, 19, a resident of Shikarpur became the year’s first victim of rabies encephalitis and died today [Thursday] afternoon at JPMC during treatment. He was being provided palliative care at an isolation ward of the JPMC. The patient was bitten by a dog some three months back but apparently he was not given anti-rabies vaccine (ARV),” said Dr Seemin Jamali, the JPMC executive director, while talking to The News on Thursday.

As many as 24 persons died of rabies encephalitis in Sindh in 2019 who could not get the ARV. Another death due to dog-bite in the year was that of a six-year-old boy who was mauled by a pack of dogs in Larkana. He died at the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) Karachi due to an infection.

Dr Seemin said the youngster from Shikarpur had developed hydrophobia and was brought to the JPMC in a critical state. She added that they had admitted the patient to an isolation ward where he was provided hospice care.

“Nothing can be done for a person if he or she develops full-blown rabies, which is a 100 per cent lethal disease.